Reduce the Potential for Corruption on the Streets

KOMPAS/HERU SRI KUMORO

An Electronic Road Pricing (ERP) system is seen installed on Jl. Medan Merdeka Barat, Jakarta, on Monday, Sept. 17, 2018. In addition to the ERP system, an electronic ticketing test is also being carried out along Jl. Sudirman and Jl. Thamrin. The ERP system and electronic ticketing policy are part of an effort to overcome traffic congestion.

The electronic ticketing application will change traffic culture. Communities will become increasingly orderly because there are surveillance cameras that operate 24 hours a day on the streets of the capital city.

According to Jakarta Police traffic director Sr. Comr. Yusuf, the application, which provides electronic evidence on violations, was launched to eliminate prit jigo (police action on the highway), which leads to illegal levies. Therefore, the police will conduct an e-ticketing test for 30 days on Jl. Sudirman and Jl. MH Thamrin, Jakarta, starting October 2018 (Kompas, 17/9/2018).

The e-ticketing is not only to reduce extortion, one form of corruption, on the streets – it could also change the behavior of citizens and officials because they no longer have direct contact. Direct meetings between the community and the authorities, especially those related to alleged violations, have often been used for bribes. It is common knowledge that traffic violations on the streets are often solved by prit jigo or a "trial in place", which typically results in bribes.

The plan by the Jakarta Police to implement the e-ticketing application is worthy of appreciation, as it is part of a wider effort from the National Police to rid themselves of corruption and improve services. Moreover, this plan coincides with the idea of implementing a public complaint system on social media from the head of the National Police\'s Criminal Investigation Department, Comr. Gen. Arief Sulistyanto (Kompas.id, 17/9/2018). The National Police should not stop in its effort, especially with the motto Rastra Sewakotama (Main Servants for the Nation), and the slogan "Protect, Safeguard and Serve the Community".

A member of the Indonesian Ombudsman, Adrianus Meliala, admitted that planning for the e-ticketing system began 10 years ago. However, the proposal has not materialized because a number of circles, including those in the police institution, do not want to leave the comfort zone.

E-ticketing faces challenges and it may be difficult to enforce it because, for example, buying and selling vehicles is not always followed by the process of updating ownership documents. If a vehicle is recorded on camera to have violated traffic rules, the name on the vehicle’s registration documents may not necessarily be the same as the name of the driver who committed the violation.

As reminded by police observer Bambang Widodo Umar, the e-ticketing system must be supported by the implementation of an electronic road pricing (ERP) system to reduce the potential for extortion or the "settlement" of alleged traffic violations.

When it started its corruption eradication campaign at the end of 1967, Malaysia\'s Rasuah Prevention Agency (BPR), now called the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), installed cameras on the streets to capture footage of police officers who received bribes from traffic violators. The move has made Malaysia less corrupt.